Default Browser Follow-up

[Kevin Hunter Kesling]

At 7:37am -0400 Wed, 14 Aug 2013, Nik Th wrote:
> Sorry but I cannot understand why a default application is such a
> big matter.

It is a big deal because defaults matter.  Even though a product might 
be "superior", if it has a weak default template and chosen options, it 
does not provide a good first-impression.  From default workflow, to 
default look, to default plugins, the first interface presented to a 
user is huge.  Those of us on this list are a self-selecting bunch that 
can possibly see past default choices to application potential, but the 
majority of end-users are not focused on computers.  They are focused on 
what the computer enables them to do.  Thus, the question, as I 
understand it, is "What is the best default?"  Unfortunately, the word 
'best' is subjective and requires a unified metric to answer.  That 
unified metric does not exist.

Put differently, let me point out that from a business standpoint (which 
is your standpoint if your goal is to further the install base of the 
desktop version of Ubuntu), the question is "To whom do we cater?"  Is 
the answer to new clients/users?  Is it to already "converted" users? 
Is it to folks who know how to use computers or folks who think the 
computer is that flat panel thing, while ignoring to what it might be 
attached?  Is it to another group entirely?

I sure don't know the answer to any of these questions.  On the other 
hand, I can tell you that it's not catered to me.  By the fact that I'm 
not paid by Canonical and am on this list, I've self-selected out of the 
clientèle who could provide a reasonably informed opinion.  I have 
plenty of anecdotal evidence from shoulder-surfing actual end-users 
(like my clueless advisor, parents, and office mates), but so do we all. 
  To really answer these questions, one would need to do some market 
analysis, know the internal company direction, _and_ perform some sort 
of usability testing.  I suspect that the folks employed by Canonical 
have done so.

> Users are still able to install any preferable browser (and uninstall
> any that don't like).

Unfortunately, 'able' is a subjective valuation.  That is, yes, there is 
the possibility to install another browser, but possibility does not 
mean user capability, nor even necessarily inclination to figure out 
how.  Assuming that folks have the capability to install another browser 
presupposes two points: that they have the requisite knowledge or skill 
to learn, and that they have already decided upon Ubuntu.  Given the 
above discussion, I do not think Canonical is making these presuppositions.

Kevin